Magnitude 7.6 earthquake strikes southern Panama, tsunami alerts issued across Pacific coast

The quake and its immediate effects

A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck southern Panama at 12:56 local time on Friday, 9 October, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). The epicenter was 14 km southwest of Pitaloza Arriba, according to ANSA citing the USGS, while Deutsche Welle placed it in Herrera province. Panic spread through Panama City, where AFP journalists reported scenes of fear, and several buildings in the former banking district were evacuated as a precaution, Deutsche Welle reported. RPC TV reported a second shock of magnitude 6 soon after the first, and its footage showed cracked buildings and debris on the streets. Deutsche Welle counted about fifteen significant aftershocks, including one of magnitude 6, and said authorities were assessing damage mainly in the central areas of Herrera, Azuero, Veraguas and Los Santos.

Magnitude figures differ across reports

The USGS first estimated the quake at magnitude 8.0, a figure Reuters reported in its first dispatch, before revising it, according to ANSA. ANSA's later reports give 7.6, while Deutsche Welle said the agency finally set it at 7.7 and Rzeczpospolita described 7.7 as a preliminary value. The depth also differs between sources, with Deutsche Welle giving about 10 km and Rzeczpospolita citing about 33 km. Rzeczpospolita gave the local time as 12:56 and said the scale of damage and any casualties had not yet been confirmed.

Government response and infrastructure

Panama's president, José Mulino, wrote on X shortly after the quake that he had asked for a report on its effects.

I have requested a report from the ministers and competent agencies on the effects: calm is urged. There is no reason to use what has happened to generate alarm and disorder.

Panama's international airport suspended operations as a precaution to check its structures, and schools were closed, ANSA reported. Deutsche Welle, citing La Prensa, said the Education Ministry ordered afternoon classes suspended. Authorities asked residents not to overload telephone lines so emergency services could get through. Firefighters began checking whether buildings were still sound in the most affected areas of Coclé, Veraguas and Azuero, according to ANSA.

Damage and casualties

No victims had been reported in the first accounts, ANSA said. Deutsche Welle, citing videos shared on social media, reported facade collapses and said the tower of the cathedral in Penonomé had collapsed. The Dos Continentes hotel in the same town was also affected, and Deutsche Welle described the damage as moderate. Rzeczpospolita said that information on the scale of destruction or possible casualties had not been confirmed.

Tsunami alerts across the Pacific

The US Tsunami Warning System issued a potential tsunami threat for Ecuador, Colombia, Nicaragua, Panama, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, El Salvador and Costa Rica, according to ANSA. Rai reported possible risks along much of the Central American Pacific coast, as well as Colombia and Ecuador, within the three hours after the quake. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu said the preliminary parameters meant wave risk existed along a wide stretch of coast, and that the figures could change as scientists analyzed more data. Chile's Navy hydrographic service reported a threat and put Easter Island on a state of precaution, Deutsche Welle reported. Later the US system withdrew its tsunami alert for the Central American Pacific coast, ANSA reported, while El Salvador's authorities considered the threat moderate and Colombia's National Risk Disaster Unit (UNGRD) ruled out the arrival of a wave.